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Week 9 Game Recap: Dallas Cowboys 38, Philadelphia Eagles 17
What you need to know
| Dallas Cowboys |
Tony Romo completed 80 percent of his 25 passes for 324 yards and three scores. He did not run the ball, but used his mobility to find time in the pocket and played a controlled game against a secondary that was clearly overmatched by Terrell Owens and company. The 67.5 million dollar man apparently hasn't let the shiny new contract go to his head, as he was in complete control of this one from the onset, and the Eagles had no answer for the Cowboys passing game.
The tandem of Julius Jones and Marion Barber combined for 113 yards on the ground, and 72 yards through the air. Jones started the game and carried 13 times for 57 yards, catching the ball three times for 22 yards. Barber closed it out carrying 16 times for 56 yards, and catching three passes for 50 yards. Jones out carried Barber six to two in the first quarter, but Barber had 14 to Jones' seven from that point forward. On the Cowboys first drive inside the redzone, Barber replaced Jones at the seven yard line, carrying the ball five yards to the Eagles two. Jones then came back in to plunge in for a two yard score. Barber appeared to receive all of the goalline work from there on out, scoring five yard touchdown of his own in the second quarter. Late in the fourth quarter Barber had an opportunity to score a second touchdown, as he received three carries inside the Eagles five yard line, however was stopped for a four yard loss on third and goal from the one, with the Eagles having to settle for a fieldgoal. Barber shows a great combination of elusiveness and power, and you can tell he's a game breaker with the ball in his hands. Jones is more of a direct one cut runner that uses his speed effectively, but doesn't have the big play potential that Barber does. Whatever the case, Jones starting the game and Barber closing it out seems to be a formula that is working for the Cowboys. Don't hold your breath waiting for one or the other to earn much more of a workload, as this is a true committee in Dallas with clearly defined roles.
Terrell Owens owned the Eagles secondary, torching them for 174 yards and a touchdown on ten passes. He made it look effortless in this game, catching one ball over the middle, breaking a tackle and jogging in for an easy 45 yard score to start the 3rd quarter. Romo targeted him a total of 12 times, and he was clearly going to be the top receiving option in an always highly anticipated return to Philadelphia. Many people call Owens out when he's being a distraction and undermining his teammates and coaches in what are often bad situations. But too few applaud him when he stays out of trouble and isn't disruptive. The one constant of course is that he always plays hard, and he showed the Eagles tonight why that's the kind of guy you want to keep happy. He stuck it to them, and all they can really do is hang their heads in what was a lame effort, especially by the Eagles secondary.
| Philadelphia Eagles |
On the first offensive play of the game Donovan McNabb dropped back to pass and was sacked, causing a fumble and a turnover where the Cowboys would later capitalize with a touchdown. It got better from there, but not by a lot. McNabb's numbers will look ok in the box score, as he passed for 264 yards, completing 27 of his 46 attempts, with one score and two interceptions. However, that won't tell the whole story, as he did not play a sharp game. The Cowboys pass rush was disruptive, and McNabb wasn't able to look deep very often, instead choosing to dump the ball off to Westbrook, a few times on third and long with no chance of getting a first down. The Eagles offense lacked any kind of inventive play calling, and weren't able to get in a groove when the Cowboys were shutting down the screen pass. McNabb forced the issue a handful of times, two of which were intercepted, with another that should have been. In garbage time McNabb padded the stats a little, continuously dumping the ball off to Brian Westbrook, but again made no attempt to look down the field, and was content letting the clock run out to end the game, capping off his lackluster performance.
Brian Westbrook showed us he's essentially the only show in town at running back for the Eagles, carrying the ball 16 times for 65 yards, and catching an impressive 14 passes for 90 yards, on 18 targets. The high reception total was more an indication of McNabb's unwillingness to look down the field, than it was a play working so well they kept going back to it. Touches are touches though, and when you've got the ball in your hands 30 times a game, you're going to pile up yardage. Westbrook who's generally explosive in space, wasn't given much of an opportunity to break big gains, as the Cowboys did a great job of containing him, and jumping on numerous screens for negative or small gains. Westbrook's backup Correll Buckhalter only carried the ball twice for no yards, and dropped his only target of the game.
What you ought to know
| QB Tony Romo, Pass: 20 - 25 - 324 - 3 TD / 1 INT |
Romo completed 20 of his 25 pass attempts for 324 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He started the game completing his first nine passes on his way to an 80 percent completion percentage on the day. While he did not run the ball, he used his mobility to buy time in the pocket throughout the day, though the Eagles pass rush looked far from spectacular. Romo targeted Terrell Owens often in this one, and he rewarded him with a big day. Brad Johnson replaced Romo with 5:27 remaining in the game, but just handed off the ball and kneeled for the Cowboys win.
| RB Marion Barber III, Rush: 16 - 56 - 1, Rec: 3 - 50 - 0 (3 targets) |
Marion Barber carried the ball 16 times for 56 yards and one touchdown, while catching all three of his targets for 50 yards through the air. Julius Jones started this game and out carried Barber six to two in the first quarter, but Barber was the primary ball carrier thereafter. Barber's first carry of the day came on second and goal with the ball at the seven yard line. He carried for five yards to the two, but was removed from the game for Jones, who proceeded to punch it in for a score. Barber was the goalline back on all of the other trips into the redzone. He had a chance for a second touchdown in the fourth quarter as he received three carries inside the five yard line, but the Eagles rush defense stacked him up at the line each time, the Cowboys eventually having to settle for a fieldgoal.
| RB Julius Jones, Rush: 13 - 57 - 1, Rec: 3 - 22 - 0 (3 targets) |
Julius Jones started the game and carried the ball 13 times for 57 yards and a score. Jones caught all three of his targets for 22 yards. The Cowboys used Jones primarily in the first quarter, then seemed to prefer going to Barber as the game wore on. Jones had one carry at the goalline in the first quarter from the two yard line, where he got in for his only touchdown of the night.
| WR Terrell Owens, Rec: 10 - 174 - 1 (12 targets) |
Terrell Owens did not disappoint in an always highly anticipated return to Philadelphia, catching ten passes for 174 yards and a touchdown. He was targeted 12 times on the day, and did not have any dropped passes. On Owens' touchdown, he broke a tackle over the middle, and jogged in for 45 yards play, breaking the game open to start the third Backup tight end Tony Curtis caught a one yard touchdown on a jump ball type pass by Tony Romo to the back of the endzone. Curtis leaped and made a nice athletic play. That was his only target of the game.quarter. Owens was often seen on the sidelines motioning to the crowd, and flapping his arms like an eagle, really enjoying his brilliant game. As expected, Eagles fans were far from receptive.
| WR Patrick Crayton (1 targets) |
Patrick Crayton was only targeted once in this game, and it came on Tony Romo's only interception of the night. Clearly he was not a big part of the gameplan, with Terrell Owens returning to Philadelphia.
| TE Jason Witten, Rec: 3 - 77 - 1 (5 targets) |
Jason Witten caught three of his five targets for 77 yards and a touchdown. On the most impressive play of the game, Witten caught a pass over the middle where he took a huge hit from the Eagles safety knocking his helmet off. Witten was able to stay up and kept running without a helmet for another 30 yards to the Philadelphia five yard line for a 53 yard gain. Witten also made a nice catch down the right sideline for a 20 yard touchdown in the third quarter, where he caught a nicely thrown Tony Romo pass just over a defenders outstretched arm.
| TE Tony Curtis, Rec: 1 - 1 - 1 (1 targets) |
Backup tight end Tony Curtis caught a one yard touchdown on a jump ball type pass by Tony Romo to the back of the endzone. Curtis leaped and made a nice athletic play. That was his only target of the game.
| PK Nick Folk 1 - 1 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 8 points |
Nick Folk connected on his only field goal attempt of the game; a 22 yarder. He converted all five of his point after attempts.
| DAL Rush Defense |
The Cowboys as a team allowed 66 yards on the ground in 19 attempts, for an average of 3.5 yards per carry. Brian Westbrook was bottled up on the ground for most of the day, and was held to a long of ten yards. McNabb only looked to run once carrying the ball for one yard, but the Cowboys did a good job of containing him in the pocket.
| DAL Pass Defense |
Donovan McNabb passed for 264 yards, completing 27 of his 46 attempts. On the first play of the game the pass rush sacked McNabb forcing a fumble, where the Cowboys were able to eventually score the games first touchdown on. The Cowboys pass defense looked good, and the pass rush was in the mug of McNabb for the entire game, sacking him three times with numerous other hurries. With the exception of a first quarter Reggie Brown catch of 45 yards, they stayed in front of the Eagles receivers, and were able to shut down anything intermediate or deep. The Eagles had a difficult time stretching the field in this game, much of which can be accredited to a lack of time in the pocket for McNabb. They did an excellent job on Brian Westbrook screens while it was still a game, and for the most part the statistics don't tell the whole story as much of Westbrook's receiving yardage came in garbage time. While they allowed a touchdown to Hank Baskett in the fourth quarter, they picked McNabb off twice, one of which was near the redzone. A third interception was dropped by a defensive back.
| QB Donovan McNabb, Pass: 27 - 46 - 264 - 1 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0 |
Donovan McNabb attempted 46 passes, completing 27 of them for 264 yards. He threw a touchdown in the fourth quarter to Hank Baskett, but was picked off twice in the game, and nearly had a third. On the first play of the game, the Cowboys set the tone on what was going to be a frustrating game for the Eagles, sacking McNabb and forcing a fumble where they recovered and eventually scored the game's first touchdown. McNabb was pressured heavily throughout the game, and was sacked three times. He carried the ball only once for one yard, and didn't look overly mobile in doing so. He distributed the ball fairly evenly between Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis, but was often content just dumping the ball off to Brian Westbrook for short gains, at times on third and long plays. The Eagles fans grew restless with the lack of down field plays as the game wore on. The mobile McNabb of the past also seems to be gone, as he's looking pretty sluggish these days, to say the least.
| RB Brian Westbrook, Rush: 16 - 65 - 1, Rec: 14 - 90 - 0 (18 targets) |
Brian Westbrook carried the ball 16 times for 65 yards scoring on a three yard run in the first quarter. He was targeted 18 times in this game, and ten times in the fourth quarter alone, all of which were on short screens and dump off passes. He caught 14 of those passes for 90 yards, many of which came in garbage time as Donovan McNabb didn't even bother looking down the field. Clearly Westbrook is the Eagles top option on the ground as well as through the air, but didn't often get out into open space where he can be so dangerous. Generally he would have been able to do a lot more with 30 touches, but the Cowboys did a good job of shutting down screen passes, and not allowing any large lanes for him to run through.
| RB Correll Buckhalter, Rush: 2 - 0 - 0 (1 targets) |
Buckhalter acted as Brian Westbrook's backup, but failed to make an impact in what was a rough game for the running back. He carried the ball twice for zero yards, and dropped his only target of the game. He fumbled one of his carries, but it was recovered by the Eagles.
| WR Kevin Curtis, Rec: 5 - 51 - 0 (8 targets) |
Kevin Curtis caught five passes for 51 yards, on eight targets. Donovan McNabb didn't try utilizing Curtis' deep speed, and was only targeted on short and intermediate plays, generally to the left side of the field. He did not have any deep targets.
| WR Hank Baskett, Rec: 3 - 28 - 1 (4 targets) |
Hank Baskett played as the slot receiver in this game, and caught three of his four targets for 28 yards. On Donovan McNabb's only touchdown of the game, he found Baskett over the middle for a ten yard score. He was targeted earlier in the game on one of McNabb's interceptions.
| WR Reggie Brown, Rec: 2 - 55 - 0 (7 targets) |
Reggie Brown caught two passes for 55 yards, both of which came in the first quarter. With the Eagles down early, Donovan McNabb found Brown over the middle, where he changed directions and ran for 45 yards on the Eagles longest play of the game, eventually setting up a Brian Westbrook touchdown. Brown had one drop, and was targeted deep once, but overthrown by McNabb. He was targeted a total of seven times on the day.
| TE L.J. Smith, Rec: 2 - 34 - 0 (4 targets) |
Smith appeared to play a full compliment of snaps this week, and caught two passes for 34 yards on four targets. He looked to be over his nagging groin injury, and showed good quickness turning a short pass over the middle into a 23 yard gain. Later in that drive Smith made a nice catch down the right sideline in the endzone but was out of bounds, as McNabb lead him too far.
| PK David Akers 1 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points |
Akers hit his only attempt of the game from 36 yards out, and converted both of his point after attempts.
| PHI Rush Defense |
The Eagles limited the Cowboys running back duo to 110 yards on 32 carries, for an average of 3.4 yards per carry. They gave up a handful of plays over ten yards, but for the most part bottled up the Cowboys running game successfully. At the end of a fourth quarter drive, Marion Barber got three carries inside the five yard line, but was not able to get into the endzone as he was stuffed on third and goal from the one for a four yard loss.
| PHI Pass Defense |
The Eagles simply did not have an answer for Terrell Owens in this one. Owens caught ten passes for 174 yards and a 45 yard touchdown, making it look really easy while taking it to the Eagles and their fans. Romo seemed to have plenty of time in the pocket, and completed 20 of his 25 passes for 324 yards total, three going for touchdowns. They did not sack Romo, but picked him off once in the second quarter. It simply wasn't a strong effort by this unit.
